


Grief

by ReinbewPastel



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow - Rob Kidd
Genre: Gen, Inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean, Young Jack Sparrow, jack sparrow books, rob kidd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27485317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReinbewPastel/pseuds/ReinbewPastel
Summary: A young Jack Sparrow goes through the process of grief after loosing his ship and crew.Basically an alternate darker ending to the Jack Sparrow book Sins of the Father by Rob Kidd.Originally published in 2019.Fanfiction by me, Reinbew PastelPirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow by Rob Kidd © Disney Press
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Captain Teague and his crew were all safely back aboard the _Misty Lady_ after leaving the defeated naval crew and their battered vessel. They sailed away as Teague smiled in victory and looked at his crew. He noticed something was missing.  
  
He panned the deck once more and the person he was looking for was nowhere to be seen. He went by the hatch and through all the sounds of the crew, the ship, and the sea, he can lightly hear banging and stomping coming from below. Teague opened the hatch and went down the stairs. He came face to face with a _very_ angry Jack Sparrow, and rightfully so.  
  
He just witnessed his own boat (err ship), the _Barnacle_ , being obliterated into pieces by naval cannons that were meant for the _Misty Lady_! He watched as his boat split into multiple pieces, the mast burning, the deck collapsing on itself. At that moment, he wanted to scream but all he could get out was a quiet “...no!”  
  
And there he was, belowdecks of the ship captained by the man he tried to run away from for a year, surrounded by chairs scattered across the floor and things thrown off of shelves. His face was sweaty, and red from anger was shown through his tanned skin. His fists were clenched so hard, his knuckles were turning white and hints of blood were to be seen in the palms of his hands from his nails digging in. He feared the “Man-Who-Might-Be-Father” would blow up at him and give him a good lashing, but he was too angry to think about it. Teague just stood there in silence as they stared at each other.  
  
Jack turned his back to him and started to stomp away. Teague went after him and tried to grab his arm.  
  
“Jackie—”  
  
“LEAVE ME ALONE!”  
  
Jack jerked back from the pirate’s grip and continued stomping away to the other side of the room.  
  
“I’m very sorry, Jackie,” Teague apologized sincerely, following him halfway across, “If there’s anything I can do—“  
  
“Anything you can do?!” Jack stopped in his tracks and whipped around back to Teague. “I LITERALLY JUST LOST EVERYTHING! WHAT IS THERE TO DO ABOUT THAT?!”  
  
Teague didn’t respond. He just looked at him somberly. It almost seemed as if Teague had a look of guilt on his face. Jack stomped back toward Teague and walked past him back to where they came from.  
  
“DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND SHE’S GONE? SHE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME!”  
  
“You’re still talking about the ship, aren’t you?” Teague questioned, turning to Jack who was facing away.  
  
“She brought everything to me. Adventure,... freedom—she made me feel powerful! And now.. she’s all gone...” Jack said with grief, “And everyone else with it too.” He added with anger returning to him. Teague’s eyes widened.  
  
“They were all there for everything! They were my very first crew of my first ship, and went along with me on my first adventures! And they ALL left me! High and dry! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM—even that blasted cat! HANG THEM ALL!!” Jack screamed the last part and stomped back toward Teague, walking past him again. Teague once again turned back to Jack and Jack spun back around facing him. He was getting a little dizzy from pacing back and forth.  
  
“Jackie, you’re not only angry about your ship, aren’t you? Tell me, boy, what are you _really_ angry at?” Teague asked.  
  
Jack shifted and thought for a moment. What, or who, was he really angry at? His ship having been recently sunk, or.. his crew for leaving him months before, and it was just now he started to feel the anger from that? Or was it both? Or was it also his backstabbing crewmate, Fitzwilliam? His first mate Arabella, and crew members Jean, Tumen, and Jean‘s cat turned sister Constance all left him and Fitzwilliam back at New Orleans to sail with Arabella’s pirate mum, Laura Smith, aboard the _Fleur de la Mort_. And with Fitzwilliam just being revealed to be a spy for the Royal Navy and mutinied against him, he pretty much had nothing left at this point. Jack always tried to keep his emotions hidden from Teague—or anyone else for that matter—but to his shame, tears wielded in his eyes and he started to cry.  
  
“Why did they all have to go?” he choked out. Jack dove straight into Teague, burying his face into his chest, and started to sob.  
  
Teague didn’t know what to do or how to comfort the distraught former captain of the _Barnacle_. He put one hand on his shoulder and placed another on top of his head, with his fingers running through the boy’s dark, shaggy hair. They were left like this for a while as they had a long moment of silence for Jack Sparrow’s fallen ship and crew.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(Authors Note: All of the Jack and Teague dialogue toward the end was ripped straight off Sins of the Father. Only minor things changed to fit the changes in the scene. This whole fic is basically an alternate ending to the book so I wanted to keep this father son moment in there. Makes it that much cuter! So full credits given to the original authors of the book.)**

Later in the evening, after it was for sure that the bruised and battered navy crew slowly set off away in their nearly destroyed vessel, Teague ordered several of his men to take Jack out onto one of _Misty Lady_ ’s rowboats back out to where the battle took place to see if he could retrieve anything from the wreckage of the _Barnacle_.  
  
Jack was not very confident he would find anything out there since he was sure everything was probably in the bottom of the sea—and it wasn’t like he could just swim to the bottom and pull out all of his belongings. Jack was not known to be a very sentimental person, but he sure did like his things. Like his nice little collection of dead things that his crew hated so much for instance. The only things he had left in his collection now were what was tied to his person—a chicken foot and a fur pelt he got in New Orleans that hung off his belt.  
  
Teague’s men rowed out on the boat, with Jack in the front, through the flotsam and jetsam that was once the _Barnacle_. It pained him to see his ship like this.  
  
Jack couldn’t tell how long they’ve been out there for, but it felt like a while and it started to grow dark. He had no luck finding anything and he was about to tell the crew members aboard he gave up until he saw something red hit the front of the boat through the flicker of the lantern he was holding.  
  
Jack pulled out the big sheet of fabric from the water and wrung it out. Another wave of emotion hit him for a second as he took a good look at the fabric. It was the flag his crew made for him after their first adventure. It was black like a pirate flag, but instead of a skull and crossbones, it was a red bird. It was supposed to be a sparrow, even though it looked to be more like a swallow to him. The flag was pretty much in tatters but it was somehow still intact. He could probably patch it up later.  
  
Jack sat up and held the lantern out, looking over all the pieces of wood and tattered sails bobbing up and down in the sea.  
  
“Wait,” Jack said looking off and pointing ahead to the distance, “Over there!”  
  
Teague’s men pressed on and rowed out toward where Jack was pointing. He got a clearer look at what he spotted. A brown leather, slightly worn tricorn floating in the water. And by some miracle, it was amazingly still in almost perfect condition too! It was a plain hat—not exactly any kind of fancy hat he had desired to get—but it was still _his_ hat, and it was a mark of dominance over his crew. A mark that _he_ was the captain, even if his crew may not think so.  
  
Jack couldn’t wait to have his hat back! He couldn’t reach for it himself so he drew his sword and leaned so far over the boat, the only thing saving him from falling overboard was one of Teague’s crew grabbing him by the belt. Jack caught his hat with the tip of the sword and carefully pulled it safely back aboard. He was proud to have his hat, and what’s left of his flag. It wasn’t much but he was satisfied.  
  
  
  
“OW!” Jack yelped as he pricked one of his many bandaged fingers with a sewing needle for probably the millionth time.  
  
The last time he had sewn anything was the tear in his coat sleeve from the fight he was in trying to take back his stolen sack in Tortuga a year ago. He never bothered to fix anymore tears that had been made in his clothing since then—and Arabella was always the one to repair the sails—so he had been out of practice for quite a while.  
  
Jack yawned and rubbed his blurry red eyes. He had stayed up almost all night sitting cross-legged on Teague’s bed trying to repair his flag. His legs became numb and tingly so he stretched them out across the bed and continued sewing.  
  
All the sudden, the door flew open and Jack yelped again as he pricked another one of his fingers from the startle.  
  
“May I come in?” Teague asked.  
  
“Oh! Couldn’t you just learn how to knock before entering a room?!” Jack barked out sounding irritated at the presence of Teague.  
  
“Well, it is my cabin you know,” the captain reminded him.  
  
Jack grunted and went back to what he was doing. It was a few moments of silence until Jack felt like Teague was watching him from across the room—and he looked up to see Teague was doing just that. He started to feel pressure from Teague’s eyes being on him and stopped working on his flag.  
  
“What?” Jack said, still annoyed that Teague was in the room.  
  
“You doing all right, then, Jackie?” Teague asked.  
  
“Well, if you put aside my having neither ship nor crew—not even a one of them, not even a slimy, backstabbing crew member who is really a spy in disguise—and being aboard the ship of someone you’ve recently run away from, then yes, I gather I am perfectly fine. Dandy. Almost joyful even,” Jack responded.  
  
Teague went to sit by Jack on the bed as Jack bent his legs back to make room for him.  
  
“I know it’s not easy—all this figuring stuff out and growing and learning. And when I told you before that you weren’t ready to be out at sea with me, I didn’t mean you weren’t _capable_. You just hadn’t figured out what it meant to be a pirate. Maybe you still haven’t....”  
  
“I’ve lost my crew and ship. I’ve been betrayed and nearly killed. Isn’t that what being a pirate is all about?” Jack said.  
  
“Sometimes. But it’s about a great many other things as well. I think you’ve already begun to figure some of those things out,” Teague said, smiling knowingly.  
  
Jack could not deny the sense that something about being here, aboard Teague’s ship, felt right. There was something so freeing about it. And he always knew he felt at home out on the sea, so what better place to live out the rest of his days?  
  
“Still, I was a captain before, and now—“ Jack began.  
  
“Jackie, let’s be honest. That wasn’t a ship, nor were you a captain,” Teague replied.  
  
Jack frowned, knowing that when all was said and done, Teague was right.  
  
“But the Barnacle was _mine_. And my faithful crew—well perhaps the word ‘faithful’ is not _entirely_ accurate—but I thought they were right fine sailors and a pleasure to sail with, except for that cat. And that aristo. A real, real pleasure. OK, maybe ‘pleasure’ is a bit of an overstatement.”  
  
“Jackie, boats, ships, crews—they will all come and go. You have yourself to look out for, and only yourself. That doesn’t mean you don’t do those things you know are right—specifically those things that are right for _you_.”  
  
“So, I gather now you’re going to force me to come back with you,” Jack said.  
  
“Actually, I think you’re learning quite a lot out here on your own. Do you want to come back?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Very well, then. We can leave you at the next port—Tortuga.”  
  
“Um, isn’t there anywhere else you can leave me? Tortuga’s where I got myself started in this whole mess.”  
  
Teague pondered Jack’s question for a moment as he spotted Robbie passing by the open door.  
  
“Mr. Robbie, is there someplace we can drop Jackie off between here and Tortuga?”  
  
“Well, there’s Snowy Island,” Robbie responded.  
  
Jack quickly and frantically shook his head no.  
  
“Not much for winter sports, then?” Robbie said.  
  
“Not in the middle of the Caribbean, mate,” Jack replied.  
  
“And what about _Isla Hermosa_?” Teague asked.  
  
“We can surely do that,” Robbie answered, “There be a small village right outside the landing, you’ll be able to get yerself back up and running again no time, Jackie.”  
  
Jack shrugged. It sounded no worse—or no better, for that matter—than any of the other islands he’d found himself on since he stowed away.  
  
“Great, then,” Teague said, standing back up and resting his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Oh, and you might want to take this....” Teague slipped a ring off his right index finger.  
  
Jack was taken aback and quickly tried to hide his own hands.  
  
“It’s okay, Jackie, I know you took one of my rings before you left town.”  
  
“But Tia Dalma said you were looking for me. Looking for it.”  
  
“I had it confused with another ring. This one.”  
  
Jack’s eyes grew wide.  
  
“This is the one you wanted, wasn’t it? The one with that most unique property.”  
  
“What are you talking about? I know nothing about a ring with a most unique property,” Jack said loudly for the sake of the crew, noticing the door of the captain’s cabin was still open.  
  
“So, this is the one what can control people and make them do your bidding, eh?” Jack continued out of the corner of his mouth, so only Teague can hear.  
  
“Yes, Jackie. But be warned, it’s only worked twice, once seven years ago when I was fending off an angry washerwoman, and again almost a day ago when we were in the process of securing your boat from that backstabbing mate of yours.”  
  
Jack’s eyes were wide, curious, and a little skeptical as he examined the ring. So this is how Teague got Fitzwilliam to obey his orders around the _Barnacle_. Jack figured that the ring’s power must have eventually worn off, which would be how Fitzwilliam was able to betray Jack and Teague’s location.  
  
“So, how do I know when it is going to work and when it’s, you know, not?”  
  
Teague shrugged. “There doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to any of it. So in other words, it would be wise not to rely on it.”  
  
Jack slipped the ring on his finger. It immediately slipped off—Teague’s fingers were much bigger than Jack’s. Even the ring Jack had swiped from Teague before was bridged with floss. Jack stuck the ring in his thumb instead, where it remained secure.  
  
“Well, thank you.” Jack fidgeted with the first ring. “Err, you want this other one back?” Jack asked.  
  
“Eventually. Not now.”  
  
Jack wondered what that was supposed to mean.  
  
Then, as if he hadn’t just been talking to Jack, Teague turned and stepped out of the door into the early morning daylight and began barking orders at his crew.  
  
“Raise the mainsail, set a northeasterly course.”  
  
Jack looked back down at his flag, which was still laying on his lap, and sighed. He felt as if he had come so far. And now—now, he was about to start over from scratch.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(Author's Note: This part involves depression, some underage drinking and alcohol abuse, and some mildly graphic violence. Thought I should put that out there. I try to make these topics serious, sensitive, and realistic as possible, especially since I've personally experienced some of these myself)**

The _Misty Lady_ laid anchor some miles off the coast of the most beautiful island Jack had ever seen. He packed the only things he had left from the _Barnacle_ , his hat and his somewhat patched up flag, and a few sundries Teague gave him into a box.  
  
Teague rowed him out in a rowboat to the shore of the an equally beautiful town. The vegetation was very green and the water along the shore was a bright turquoise. Many small buildings and shacks aligned and many of its residents going up and down the roads. Jack looked around the town in awe as Teague was walking him to the inn.  
  
“Beautiful, ain’t it, Jackie?” Teague said.  
  
Jack was speechless. He nodded and gave him a weak smile. He was still feeling down from the recent events happening.  
  
Jack suddenly saw something that made him stop in his tracks. It was a big, tall, muscular looking man. He had a bald head, a beard, and dark soulless eyes staring at him. He stood out in stark contrast against all of the other village residents. He seemed quite frightening, but Jack Sparrow was not one to be scared easily. After all, he did defeat an angry, giant, cursed storm pirate, the ghost of Cortés himself, an evil snake lady, and faced the feared Davy Jones. He also almost died on multiple occasions so this didn’t really phase him at all.  
  
“What in the...,” Jack squinted his eyes very confused. With a blink of an eye, the mysterious figure disappeared in thin air.  
  
“Err, should’ve gotten more sleep,” Jack grumbled shaking his head, with no free hands to rub his eyes since he was carrying his box. Teague offered to carry it for him before but Jack insisted on carrying it himself. Jack realized Teague was way far ahead of him and ran to catch up to him.  
  
They got to the front of the inn and Teague knocked on the door. The door creaked open and the innkeeper peeked his head out of the door.  
  
“Am here to drop my boy off, mate.” Teague said.  
  
The door opened all the way and the innkeeper looked at Jack head to toe and nodded.  
  
Jack and Teague were led to a room upstairs and the innkeeper gave Jack a key. Teague gave the innkeeper a few coins and turned to Jack as the innkeeper walked away.  
  
“You’ve got this, Jackie?” Teague asked.  
  
“Of course I do,” Jack replied, trying not to look unsure of himself since he was not sure what he’s really going to do at this point.  
  
“Here,” Teague said pulling out a pouch from his pocket. “This’ll get you right back on your feet.”  
  
Jack looked inside the pouch which was filled with dinars. He could possibly get himself a new boat if only he knew where to go with it.  
  
“I know you’ll be fine out there, Jackie.”  
  
He opened his arms a little motioning for a hug. Jack rolled his eyes. He gave in and hugged. Teague turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.  
  
This was it. Jack was all alone. He got a good look around the room. It was pretty average. Not too fancy, not too run down. A single bed was in the middle of the room with the head against the wall, possibly a chamber pot under it, and a small table opposite from the bed nearby the door. To the right side was the wardrobe and a small washroom with an already filled tub. Disgusting—as somebody probably bathed in that water before—but very much not out of the ordinary. The left side was the window to see out into the town.  
  
Jack had no idea how long he would be staying for so he quickly made himself at home. He laid out a few of his things in the room, hung his hat from the headboard of the bed, and as a final touch, he pinned his flag over the window by the top corners since the sheer curtains that were there before didn’t do much help giving privacy and he felt the flag would make a good decoration. He stepped back and smiled as he admired his work. He felt like he was back on the _Barnacle_ again. Somewhat....  
  
Jack went back to his flag and lifted one of the corners to look out the window and was caught off guard. The same giant, buff, scary looking man was outside in the middle of swarms of people going up and down the street.  
  
“Ugh! What’s his problem?” Jack groaned.  
  
Jack was confused as to why this pirate—or at least he thought was a pirate—was in this town anyway. This wasn’t a popular area for pirates. There’s no way this guy could be from here! He put that behind as he closed the flag like a curtain and went straight to bed.  
  
  
  
Jack slept and slept all night and all day. He got up to relieve himself or to eat whatever the innkeeper left at the door for him. Other than that, he lay wilted in the bed. There was not really much point to getting up anyway. Jack had everything in his life and felt he had come so far. Now that everything was gone, he wasn’t sure what to do now and saw no point in doing anything. He could sleep as little as he could or as much as he could—or even sleeping just the right amount, he was just too tired to do anything. He slept so much, he lost track of time. He didn’t know whether it had been a day or two, or a whole week, but it didn’t matter. None of it mattered.  
  
Jack woke up and noticed it was dark outside, and started to hear small claps of thunder and rain. Still in bed and wrapped up in blankets, Jack looked at the wardrobe where his box was still in. The only thing in the box was a bundled up blanket. Then his eyes drifted to the slightly open door of the washroom. He could see the bathtub a little bit through the crack. Jack never cared for bathing or being clean, but the bath looked really inviting to him right now. And also what was in his box....  
  
Jack stripped and climbed into the tub. He had been in the bath for quite some time now, halfway done with the second of the two bottles of rum he had snuck off of Teague’s ship. He knew he would be in so much trouble had Teague found out he did that. Jack had only drank once before on his 16th birthday. He knew he was young, small, and new to the whole drinking thing so he assumed was still kind of a lightweight. But then again, thinking he was from a family of pirates who were strong drinkers, it could be in his blood so two bottles wouldn't hurt,....would it?  
  
“Ah yes! This is what it’s all about. I don’t need them lot anyway,” Jack said with a smile drawing across his face.  
  
Jack closed his eyes and slowly bobbed his head back and forth as he felt the drink slowly start to hit him. The water was cold but he was warm from the alcohol flowing through his system.  
  
He then opened his eyes and what he saw almost made him scream. The same big, giant, bald headed, bearded figure was standing in the washroom with him—right at the foot of the tub staring at him!  
  
Jack cursed and sank deeper into the tub, with the water almost right up to his nose. Jack stared at this creature of a man as the guy still stared right back at him. He wanted to get up and fight the tall ugly....thing, but it would be humiliating to see himself, the great Jack Sparrow, die beaten, drunk, and naked on the washroom floor.  
  
“Uh, hello?” Jack whimpered.  
  
No response. Jack felt this guy was just bad news. He closed his eyes tightly wishing the creepy figure would go away. His eyes popped back open and what he wished for came true. The guy disappeared! He started to grow frustrated. Was it real? Or was this all in his head? Is it going to keep happening as long as he was here? He had to resolve this as soon as possible.  
  
Jack finished the bottle of rum, hopped out of the tub, and threw on his shirt, trousers, boots, bandana, sash, and belt, with his knife in it in case he had to fight anyone, and stumbled out of the door into the pouring rain while feeling _very_ off center.  
  
  
  
Jack looked up and down the street, which was surprisingly still somewhat full with people even though the weather was awful. He looked to the right and saw the man in the distance staring right at him. A crowd of people walked by in front of him making Jack lose his view. When the crowd cleared, the man disappeared again.  
  
Jack slowly started walking in that direction trying not to fall over. Any sounds from the town and people, and the storm, Jack did not hear as his ears were clouded by alcohol. It felt as though time had slowed down for him. He had his jaw set in determination to give this guy a piece of his mind. He kept walking down that general direction through the storm until he saw the man again. Jack walked towards him but he disappeared again. This happened over and over again.  
  
He felt as if he seemed to be walking toward the back of the town as it started to become less beautiful the further he walked down. This part of the town he found himself in was definitely not so nice, nor beautiful like the rest of the island. It almost felt like Tortuga but smaller and less chaotic. It was definitely not a good part of the town to be alone in. He was led to a dark secluded area with not a single soul in sight. He scanned the area and felt something come up behind him.  
  
Jack turned around and saw the man, literally inches away, once again staring at him. He clapped his hands together and bowed.  
  
“Excuse me, big-scary-bald-headed-beastie sir,” Jack began, slurring every word, “I’ve come to wonder why ever since I’ve got ‘ere, you’ve been playing this appearing and disappearing act on me around and _in_ my inn. I must say, that’s all quite disturbing—especially when you were watching me in the bath. I’d like to ask kindly that you NOT do that. Savvy?”  
  
The man didn’t respond.  
  
“OK. So now I’m done here and we’re on good terms, I’ll pull myself together and get going. Ta now!”  
  
Before he could walk away, the man moved for the first time ever and threw a really _really_ hard punch to Jack’s gut. Jack doubled over with pain and felt something whack him on his right side knocking him to the ground. He then felt several feet kicking him at once as he crawled into a fetal position. This definitely can’t all just be from this one man. There was multiple! All thugs!  
  
Jack sat up and crawled to the main thug.  
  
“Good sir—“ Jack managed to mutter out before spitting up vomit on the ground before him, and on the man’s feet.  
  
The man did _not_ look pleased. In fact, he was angry. _Very_ angry. He pulled Jack by the hair, standing him up, and punched him square in the face. Jack was thrown back by the punch landing on his rear.  
  
He stood up, drew his knife, and started drunkenly swinging it aimlessly, stumbling in the middle of the circle of men. Something struck him again. The knife flew out of his hand as he was knocked to the ground, landing on his stomach.  
  
He felt a boot press against his head, digging the left side of his face into the wet dirt as blood pooled out from his nose and mouth.  
  
The main thug loomed over his back with his own knife in his hand, which was bigger than Jack’s. Jack had to think of something quick. He tried to form another one of his famous escape plans in his head, but he was too drunk to do so. He almost wanted to give up as he just about completely lost his will to live anyway. He then heard a familiar voice in his head.  
  
_“This is the one you wanted, wasn’t it? The one with that most unique property.”_ It was Teague’s.  
  
That’s it! The ring with the most unique property! The ring that can control people and make them do your bidding! It may or may not work but it could potentially save him if it did.  
  
“Sh-shtop!” Jack demanded, his face still being squished by the boot.  
  
Nothing happened. He then realized something that made his heart sank. Jack left all his rings back at the inn! His whole world came crashing down as he realized he was doomed. This was it. This is how he was going to die.  
  
The thug raised the knife above him as Jack closed his eyes tightly waiting for the final blow, wanting it all to end already. The blow he was waiting for didn’t come. He heard a wack and a thud above him and all the other thugs ran away.  
  
A different man was above him now. He was shorter in stature, with a slight underbite and a drifting eye. A bunch of other men came out, all seemingly to be from this part of town as they were dressed in ragged clothing.  
  
“Gracias, Andrés,” one of the men thanked the one who saved him as they flipped Jack over onto his back.  
  
Jack’s vision grew blurry as he looked up at the men. Everything came flooding and panic set in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(A/N: Another warning, this part has effects of alcohol abuse and some sexual themes. Again I try to treat the issues with much respect as possible. Also there's some Spanish here (sorry if its really bad! Had to use Google Translate!). I inserted the translations in parentheses right beneath them, although I had to use Google Translate so the translations probably aren't very good. Have fun reading!)**

Picking Jack up off the ground proved to be difficult as he struggled and kicked in pain and confusion. Jack started bawling without reason as two of the men carried him arm to arm. His legs felt like jello as they walked without supporting his own body.

"I FEEL SO BAD, I FEEL SO BAD," the drunken boy sobbed as they pushed through the door of the house they carried him to through the storm.

"You'll get help," one of the men reassured in slightly broken English.

"You alright? You in pain?" The other asked.

"I don't know!"

The men carried him through the house and Jack skidded his feet to stop.

"What do I look like? What does my face look like?"

They walked Jack to a nearby mirror and even though he couldn't see much with his blurry vision, he was horrified at what he saw. It was an image that would probably burn into his mind for the rest of his young days.

He was wet to the bone and everything was shifted from one way to another. His stringy, sopping hair fell into his face over his bandana, which was also completely shifted. The left side of his face was covered in dirt and blood with the rest of it in bruises and soaked by tears. The front of his shirt was also covered in dirt, a little bit of blood, and also what suspiciously looked like puke.

Jack was shaken out of his trance when he was pulled along into a bedroom some seemingly scantily dressed women were waiting in and was dropped into a chair beside a small table.

Some of the men in the group scattered about leaving the room as the remaining stayed comforting the still sobbing and drunk Jack along with the women. One of the men came back with a teacup full of water. One of the women started to feed the water to him, but Jack only drank a little bit before his strength to drink anything gave out and water from the cup ran down his chin and chest.

A new man and woman entered the room, the man carrying a platter of various foods. This man was a bit more fancier dressed than the rest and the woman was almost as scantily dressed as the other women there, but still seemed to have some kind of importance.

Jack tried to get a good look at the woman, but his vision was very blurry and it looked to him like as if he was looking through a slit between his fingers. He saw a hint of red in her hair and squinted his eyes.

"A-Arabella....is that you?" Jack asked. No response.

"Arabella! ARABELLAAAAA!" Jack cried out as the woman looked confused.

"I am not Arabella," the woman said sternly, also with an accent.

Jack went quiet for a moment.

"Laura?! What are YOU doing here? LAURA—"

"I am not Laura either," the woman started to sound a little annoyed.

Jack went quiet again and started to laugh loudly like as if he wasn't sobbing just moments ago. He tried to register what she looked like, but he could see nothing but blurriness. Through the slit of vision he had, he could only see her from the neck down.

"Nice chest!" Jack slurred in some failed attempt at complimenting or flirting. Jack started to break down again just like how he was before.

The woman frowned at his comment. She went up close to Jack's face leaving only a few inches of breathing room for him. She took a few sniffs and pulled back.

"Oh yes. You're _very_ drunk." She said stating the obvious.

"You're name?" She asked.

"Jack...Sparrow...," Jack answered.

Her eyes widened a little for a second, as if she recognized his name.

"Jack Sparrow," the woman repeated with a smile drawing across her face. She went over to the man accompanying her and whispered something into his ear. The man in turn whispered to another man who hurried out of the room in response.

She took one of the pieces of food from the platter that was placed on to the table and brought it to his face. Jack pulled his head back in a look of disgust.

"UGGH I don't like it!" Jack cringed.

"You need to eat," the woman said shoving the food into Jack's mouth.

"I don't like it! I don't like it!" Jack sobbed as his mouth was being stuffed with food.

Just then, one of the men from earlier came back into the room with who looked to be a doctor.

" _Parece que se ha metido en una pelea aquí_?" the doctor asked, examining Jack's face.  
("Looks like he's gotten into a fight here?")

" _Sí_ ," the fancier dressed man replied, nodding his head.  
("Yes,")

" _Necesito buscar lesiones graves. Limpia su cara._ "  
("I need to look for serious injuries. Clean your face.")

One of the other men left for a minute and returned with a bowl of water and a rag. He dipped a corner of the rag into the water and brought it to Jack's face.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Jack screamed. He slapped the man across his face and struck the bowl making it fly out of the man's hand, spilling the water everywhere and shattering the bowl.

Jack wailed and sobbed again as the other men scrambled to clean up the mess off the floor.

" _Sin preocupaciones_ ," the doctor said, " _Nada serio mirando ahora mismo. Continúa dándole comida y agua y asegúrate de que duerma de lado_."  
("Without worries. Nothing serious looking right now. Continue to give him foor and water and make sure he sleeps on his side.")

" _¡Lo siento mucho! ¡Gracias por tu tiempo!_ " The main man said escorting the doctor out through the front door.  
("So sorry! Thanks for your time!")

Meanwhile, others continued to feed Jack as he still weeped. Jack gagged as if he was going to throw up. One of the women who was directly in front of Jack stood up backing away afraid to be puked on. Someone ran into the room with a bucket and placed it onto the floor near the table and chair Jack was in. He slid out of the chair onto the floor, crawled to the bucket, and started to vomit. The main woman sat on the floor beside him and rubbed his back.

"I feel so bad," Jack sputtered in an interval before continuing to puke in the bucket.

"Don't worry," the woman reassured, "A few more. Then you'll be done."

The woman got back on to her feet and walked away as did everyone else in the room. Jack vomited several more times and laid his head next to the bucket. He closed his eyes for what felt like a few minutes.

"Jack Sparrow, we have some people here we believe you are familiar with." the woman said walking back into the room.

"Huh?" Jack moaned as he opened his eyes.

"Jackie!"

Someone grabbed Jack by the arm and sat him up onto his rear.

"Look what we have 'ere! Yer drunk!"

Jack looked up very confused. It was Renegade Robbie! What was _he_ doing here?

A pair of black boots came up next Robbie. Jack tried to look up to see who it was but the person in the boots was much taller than Robbie. He saw a blur of red and brown. The figure knelt down onto one knee facing Jack. Adding insult to the injuries he already had, he felt a heavy slap across his face, almost knocking him back to his side. The figure pulled him back up, grabbed him by the shoulders, and forcefully shook him.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, JACKIE?!"

Jack's vision finally cleared and what he saw horrified him. He was face to face with what was indeed Teague. He was still too drunk to wonder why Teague and Robbie were here when they should have sailed away aboard the _Misty Lady_ a couple nights ago.

"WHY WERE YOU BLOODY DRINKING?!"

"I don't know!" Jack started to sob again as he looked down ashamed and avoiding eye contact.

"How many bottles did you drink?! Where did you get them from?!" Teague demanded.

Jack looked down at his hand and counted with his fingers.

"Two....," Jack answered sheepishly, still not looking up.

"Where did you get the rum from, Jackie?"

"The ship....,"

Teague slapped Jack across the face again and pulled him back up.

"Do you know what this does to you? It makes you look bad—and also makes me look bad!"

Jack didn't respond.

"We are pirates but drinking is _not_ the way to solve our problems. I know you are in a not-so-well off place in your life at the moment, but I don't want you to go off on to that route—especially at your age. This behavior makes me question whether or not I should trust you to be out on your own again. It's a real shame since I saw that you were learning quite a bit when you were out there alone this past year. You weren't going off and doing this, acting like a fool while you were away, have you?"

Jack slowly shook his head no while still looking down. Teague stood back up and he and the main woman walked into another room to talk leaving Jack and Robbie alone together.  
  


"I'm very sorry you had to deal with this, María," Teague apologized. "I had no idea it would turn out this way after planning this set up."

"Not any worries, Capitán," the woman reassured. "It was a joy to have him here."

Teague knew she was probably lying.

"I didn't mean for Jackie to be banged up so hard either. I wanted to see how he would do on his own in a situation like this, like a test of some sorts. Since, you know, he never came off to be ready for all this pirating business. By the looks of it, he's—"

"Shhhh!" the woman shushed Teague placing a finger on his lips. "It is _never_ about failure. Everything should be taken as a lesson learned. And it was just this one time. You know how you've said he's been out at sea on his own for a year now, right? Well it's only been a short time and I've already started to hear his name come around a bit. Rumor has it that Jack Sparrow is the one who defeated Capitán Torrents."

"Captain Torrents? The most infamous and dreaded pirate in the Caribbean?" Teague wondered full of doubt.

"Sí, you must be one _very_ lucky father." the woman replied with a smile.

Teague was stunned. His own son defeated the Captain Torrents! Looks like Jack was turning out to become a great pirate after all.

"Before you go, Capitán, would you like some....service?" the woman offered suggestively, running her fingers down his chest.

"Sorry! Not tonight, love," Teague said pulling back. "I've gotta take Jackie back. He's going to have one bloody hell of a hangover in the morning. How 'bout another night, aye? I'll have more money by then too since I gave some to Jackie and bought him a room at the inn."

"Of course! We are always open."

"By the way," Teague added before leaving the room. "Tell Temor I said thanks and I owe him a big one."  
  


"...of course I'd like to have me grog mixed with something. I'd suggest you do that the next time you start drinking since it dilutes the drink a bit," Robbie continued on his five minute long tangent about drinking.

Jack just drunkenly sat in the floor staring at him blank and confused as he kept going.

"Don't wanna start out too strong! Then we end up in a situation such as yerself! Good job on your first time getting really drunk! Now you'll get yer first hangover! No cure for it but what I'd like to do—"

"ROBBIE!"

Robbie jumped and quickly looked up. Teague was standing above him looking down, glaring at him with his arms crossed.

"Don't encourage this behavior!" Teague snapped.

"Aye Cap'n!" Robbie said quickly taking a few steps back with his hands up in defense.

"Alright, Jackie! Time to go." Teague said.

Jack gulped as Teague pulled him back up onto his feet. He stumbled a bit before leaning into Teague for support.

Teague held Jack from under his right arm as they walked through the streets in the still pouring rain. Robbie was in the other side carrying a sack Teague had brought. He held Jack by his other arm although he was not doing much help in supporting him since he was shorter than him.

Jack squinted his eyes since he didn't have the strength to use his hand to shield them from the rain. The tears never stopped silently flowing as he knew he was in really big trouble with Teague.

"I take it you're bringing me back to the ship to take me home?" Jack trembled fearing that it would happen.

Teague didn't respond. They were all silent for the rest of the walk to the inn. The innkeeper let them in and Teague and Robbie walked Jack to the door to his room.

"I'll take it from here, Robbie," Teague said as he opened the door to Jack's room and taking the sack from Robbie's shoulder.

"Aye, Cap'n. Oh, Jackie! One more thing," Robbie added turning to Jack. "Be sure you sleep on yer side when you go to bed. Don't want ye choking on yer own sick, aye?"

"Don't know how many times I've been told that tonight," Jack responded.

Robbie smiled in reassurance. He clapped Jack on the back and went downstairs to wait for Teague.

Teague brought Jack into the room and sat him down on the edge of the bed. Jack watched as Teague dumped the contents of the sack into the box inside the wardrobe, which were a change of clothes.

"You were only here two days and this place is already a mess!" Teague complained looking around in disgust at all the various items scattered about in the room.

"I know....,"

Teague then proceeded into the washroom. Jack could hear Teague cursing as he picked up the empty rum bottles off the washroom floor. Teague tossed the bottles into a basket next to the door and walked up to Jack.

"Jackie," Teague tried to get Jack's attention.

Jack just sat on the bed slouching. He kept looking down with a blank expression as tears silently fell down his bruised and bloodied face. Teague bent down a little bit to the same eye level as Jack.

"You don't want to go back home, do you?" Teague asked.

Jack shook his head no while still looking down.

"For sure?"

Jack nodded a little. Teague grabbed him by the face and looked at him in the eyes.

"If you really have your heart set on this, you best not be doing anything stupid or getting yourself killed. I, Robbie, and everyone else on the _Misty Lady_ —we all care for you."

Any emotion in Jack's teary red eyes were dulled by the drink. Any emotion in him all together felt numb.

"I love you, Jackie,"

Teague then sat up, gabbed the empty sack by the wardrobe, and walked out the door. Jack looked back down at the floor. Aside from the patters of the rain hitting against the window, everything was silent. Too silent. Once again, he was all alone.


	5. Chapter 5

The next couple of hours were restless as Jack sobbed and had uncontrollable shivers, which was something he previously didn't know alcohol could do. He eventually fell asleep for a while and was awoken by a knock on the door.

Intense pain hit him immediately. His head hurt from the hangover or from the fight—maybe both, his face hurt, and his back and stomach hurt. His eyes hurt from the sun shining through the window and the flag pinned over it. He also felt cold even though he was under the covers.

The door unlocked and creaked open. The innkeeper came in with a tray of a bowl of broth and a cup of tea. Following the innkeeper was the woman from the night before.

Now with clearer vision, Jack finally got to see what she really looked like. Like most of the rest of the island, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He could say this about many of the girls he had met throughout his adventures, but this was very much true this time. The woman was tall with slightly dark skin and a hint of red in her dark hair.

The innkeeper left the tea and broth on the table and walked out of the room.

"Jack Sparrow,"

Jack groaned and pulled the covers over his head.

"Jack, it's one in the afternoon. Clean yourself up and eat," The woman said.

Food sounded really good to Jack right now—and it smelled good as well! He sat up and looked down at himself. The coldness came from his still damp clothes from the night before. Jack got up, slowly walked to the wardrobe and grabbed the change of clothes, and walked to the washroom. His body still felt drunk but in his head, he just felt very tired and sluggish.

His face didn't look as bad as he thought it did after washing off the dried blood and dirt. Lots of little cuts and bruises but it didn't look too bad. However he suspected his nose was broken, hoping that it wasn't the case. He also found quite a bit of bruising around his back and stomach upon changing.

Jack still felt horrible. He looked at the mirror and could hardly recognize the person staring back at him. He finished changing and cleaning up and went back into the bedroom where the woman was waiting for him at the table.

"María by the way. I never had the chance to properly introduce myself," the woman said.

Jack ignored her as he scarfed down his food.

"Sopa de pollo con mofongo is definitely not your everyday chicken soup. Perfect for the hangover since the steam from the broth relieves the pain and clears everything up for a bit. The mofongo balls are the best!"

Jack slurped the last bit of broth and slammed the bowl down.

"So, lass, tell me everything that happened last night," Jack requested cutting straight to the chase.

"You want to know _everything_?" María questioned. "Is there anything you already know?"

"Well, err, yes! I got into a bloody fight, brought into some strange house full of strange people, got food shoved into my face, some other things happened, and ended up back here," Jack replied.

María then proceeded to tell Jack everything in detail about what happened. Some of the things she told him had him horrified, staring into space with a gaping jaw. The more she told Jack, the little more he could remember. His memory from that night was still very blurry though. Some of the things she told him that happened he didn't even remember at all. He tried really hard to search deep into his brain, but he still couldn't remember. Everything all felt like a dream. He wanted it all to only be some sick nightmare, but then reality slapped him right back in the face while listening to María and still feeling tremendous amounts of pain throughout his face and body.

"And then you blacked out on the floor next to the bucket for about three hours," María then continued.

"Ah! No, no, no, no! I only was on the floor for only a few minutes! About an hour at most maybe!" Jack interrupted.

"Sí, it was about three in the morning—"

"No, it was one! I remember!" Jack interrupted again insisting his memory was right.

"It. Was. Three. We woke you up at around three for Capitán Teague to pick you up—"

"TEAGUE?!!" Jack interrupted once more. He could tell María was starting to get annoyed. He almost seemed to like that.

"And Robbie. They picked you up and took you back here."

Jack pretended to not remember that Teague showed up, but he very much did. He didn't want to remember. It made his brain hurt in confusion. He drank like a _pirate_. A pirate—something he didn't want to be. He felt very ashamed. He didn't know why Teague decided to trust him again and take him back to the inn rather than just taking him home.

María on the other hand tried to keep details on this part brief as she wasn't quite sure how or if she wanted to reveal Teague's true intentions to Jack.

"So, what do you plan on doing from here?" María asked changing the subject.

"Don't know," Jack answered. "Everything I've ever had is all gone. I've got no ship, no crew,....no future."

"Right now, what do you plan on doing for _yourself_?"

"I have nothing for myself. Don't know what to do or where to go. No goals to go after, no plans whatsoever. Then again, I don't want to stay here forever. I'm just so stuck." Jack said putting his head in his arms on the table. He felt like crying again but didn't want to do it in front of her.

"You don't have to be," María said. "Interested in some treasure hunting?"

"Come again?" Jack perked up a little.

"There's great treasure to be found—possibly the greatest treasure in the Caribbean, on an island with a very tall peak. Not very far from here I believe with skill and luck," María said leaning in closer.

"Pray tell, what kind of treasure is it?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. _You_ could be the one to find out."

Jack thought for a moment. After dealing with curses, magic, and the supernatural, Jack didn't mind some good old-fashioned treasure hunting. He had all the time in the world to look for treasure, whether it is real, or made up by this very beautiful woman he had only just met. It may seem very pirate, but it could help him get back on his feet again.

"Hmm, tell me more...."

_Epilogue from Sins of the Father_

In the most beautiful town Jack had ever seen, set on the most beautiful island Jack had ever been on, the young sailor handed a man at the docks a handful of dinars that Teague had given him.

The man motioned to a small boat, bobbing at the edge of the dock. This boat was only large enough for one, maybe two, sailors. It had one sail and no name. It was equipped with two oars.

Jack climbed in and then pulled out his compass. A woman who was beautiful, like everything else on the island, had told him that a great treasure was to be found a few leagues to the northwest, on an island with a very tall peak. Jack figured that if he rowed all night long and caught the wind just right, he could be there in less than a day. He didn't mind all the spare time he'd need to kill or that he'd be alone. After all, he had a lot to think about.

Did he want to live a pirate's life? Did he have a choice? Was it something that was just in his blood? Jack wasn't sure. But for the time being at least, he was planning on living life for the moment. And maybe that was his answer. Maybe that made him pirate enough already.


End file.
